200th Execution under one Governor

With the execution of Terry Lee Hankins last night, Texas Governor Rick Perry has reached a pretty apalling benchmark: 200 executions in his eight and a half years as governor. As in other states, the death penalty in Texas has proven to be ineffective as a deterrent, racist in its application, and extremely costly. Not to mention that Texas does not have a strong reputation for considering all of the evidence before going forth with an executuion: there have been at least eight executions in the last twenty years where there was strong evidence of the defendant’s innocence – five of them were from Texas. This overzealous approach to justice means that Texas sometimes fails to punish the true perpetrators of some pretty horrific crimes. Texas has been responsible for 439 executions since the death penalty was re-applied in 1976. That’s 38% of all executions in the United States since that time.

Terry Hankins was executed by lethal injection around 6:19pm for shooting his two step children and his wife. He had also confessed to killing his father and half-sister around 2000, though he was only tried for the first three deaths.

The state of Texas is likely to continue its reckless spree of executions. Hankins was the 16th execution this year, and the state still has four more executions scheduled over the next four months, the next of which is Kenneth Mosley on July 16.

About Brian Evans

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44 thoughts on “200th Execution under one Governor”

How dare you insult Amnesty International USA like that! I'm getting tired of having to put up with cruel insults of death row inmates and their families! Texas is so full of themselves, always deaf to any kind of justice but their own, always hating sinners and punishing them with death, and always cheering whenever an execution is carried out, always insulting death row inmates with, "Good ridddance, you heartless SOB!", "May the lying b@stard burn in hell for all eternity!", "We're not vengeful; that SOB deserved to die and got what he deserved!", and "Through the fires of hell, justice is served!" I don't even think justice is served at all! I still say that through fire justice is still languishing in the fires of hell! What a cruel, stupid world we all live in! I feel that in their world we are all sinners deserving the wrath of an angry God, deserving to forfeit our human rights even in foreign countries, and deserving to be executed and go to hell! 😥

Planet of sinners — for me this is true in Debbie's, not the christian, sense. She removes the fine line between sanctioned "normalcy" & criminal reality, and we all enter the dark flow with Dante. "texas" was founded on this other side of the Styx, on the execution grounds of an entire Nation, the Comanche who knew the unbroken light of a prisondevoid time & space. The charnel wind from the cities & plains where they were slaughtered darkens the mind that names itself "texan", forever. There's no parole from illusory identity.

How dare you insult Amnesty International USA like that! I’m getting tired of having to put up with cruel insults of death row inmates and their families! Texas is so full of themselves, always deaf to any kind of justice but their own, always hating sinners and punishing them with death, and always cheering whenever an execution is carried out, always insulting death row inmates with, “Good ridddance, you heartless SOB!”, “May the lying b@stard burn in hell for all eternity!”, “We’re not vengeful; that SOB deserved to die and got what he deserved!”, and “Through the fires of hell, justice is served!” I don’t even think justice is served at all! I still say that through fire justice is still languishing in the fires of hell! What a cruel, stupid world we all live in! I feel that in their world we are all sinners deserving the wrath of an angry God, deserving to forfeit our human rights even in foreign countries, and deserving to be executed and go to hell! 😥

Planet of sinners — for me this is true in Debbie’s, not the christian, sense. She removes the fine line between sanctioned “normalcy” & criminal reality, and we all enter the dark flow with Dante. “texas” was founded on this other side of the Styx, on the execution grounds of an entire Nation, the Comanche who knew the unbroken light of a prisondevoid time & space. The charnel wind from the cities & plains where they were slaughtered darkens the mind that names itself “texan”, forever. There’s no parole from illusory identity.

If you are going to kill two innocent children while they sleep, kill your wife, kill (admitted but not tried for killing) your mentally retarded sister whom you previously had sex with and fathered a child, and kill (admitted but not tried for killing) your father DONT DO IT IN TEXAS.

Not intended to insult Debbie or Amnesty International. You do some great work worldwide. I for one have to disagree on this particular case…there are rare times when the crime is so heinous that the death penalty is warranted. Mr. Hankins was one such case. I don't, but my God have mercy on his soul.

Why not post a blog condemning the murders Mr. Hankins and others commit? Aren't the 11 and 12 year old children the victims of the most heinous human rights violation you could fathom? Why does your heart bleed for death row inmates, but never a word about the victims????

As for the Cherokee…I consider what all of our ancestors did to the native american indian to be the darkest chapter in the history of the U.S….Don't just blame Texas…follow the trail of tears, read your history.

I DO care about murder victims and their families, and I believe that what Hankins was involved with and did in killing two children was evil. I don't condone murder and other crimes, and I believe that evil should be punished, but I just don't think that the death penalty is an appropriate punishment for criminals who murder people. I don't see any sense in killing people to show them that killing people is wrong. For me, punishing a murder crime with another murder crime, which is what killing for vindication is, means that people everywhere are still demanding an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. There are worse things in life than death, as they say. My condolences go out to the families of Mr. Hankins and his victims as they are on the road to healing and forgiveness.

If you are going to kill two innocent children while they sleep, kill your wife, kill (admitted but not tried for killing) your mentally retarded sister whom you previously had sex with and fathered a child, and kill (admitted but not tried for killing) your father DONT DO IT IN TEXAS.

Not intended to insult Debbie or Amnesty International. You do some great work worldwide. I for one have to disagree on this particular case…there are rare times when the crime is so heinous that the death penalty is warranted. Mr. Hankins was one such case. I don’t, but my God have mercy on his soul.

Why not post a blog condemning the murders Mr. Hankins and others commit? Aren’t the 11 and 12 year old children the victims of the most heinous human rights violation you could fathom? Why does your heart bleed for death row inmates, but never a word about the victims????

As for the Cherokee…I consider what all of our ancestors did to the native american indian to be the darkest chapter in the history of the U.S….Don’t just blame Texas…follow the trail of tears, read your history.

Samuel L. Jackson plays a father whose young daughter is brutally raped, beaten and left for dead by a couple of other guys. Sam's character blasts these two guys away. The rape of his daughter and his reaction to shoot these guys away takes place a Mississippi town infested with the KKK.

Anyway, Matthew McConanahey (spelling?) plays the defense attorney.

Samuel L. Jackson walks… Do you think if this is based on a true story he should have spent his life in jail and punished for taking the lives of the two men that brutally raped, beat and left for dead his 9 year old daughter?
________

Regardless, following through on a lawfully imposed death penalty is not a murder….so says our elected lawmakers and our duly appointed Supreme Court. You are certainly entitled to your OPINION that you just don't think that the death penalty is an appropriate punishment in the case of Mr. Hankins. I disagree and I also thank the jury, the prosecution, the judge, the appelate courts and the Gov of Texas as well as the team of defense attorneys who dutifully and tirelessy represented Mr. Hankins.

Be that way, Texas! I don't like hearing your claims that the death penalty is "not murder but retributive justice". I will continue to oppose the death penalty and reach out to families of murder victims and death row inmates. May God forgive you, and may God forgive us all.

I DO care about murder victims and their families, and I believe that what Hankins was involved with and did in killing two children was evil. I don’t condone murder and other crimes, and I believe that evil should be punished, but I just don’t think that the death penalty is an appropriate punishment for criminals who murder people. I don’t see any sense in killing people to show them that killing people is wrong. For me, punishing a murder crime with another murder crime, which is what killing for vindication is, means that people everywhere are still demanding an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. There are worse things in life than death, as they say. My condolences go out to the families of Mr. Hankins and his victims as they are on the road to healing and forgiveness.

Samuel L. Jackson plays a father whose young daughter is brutally raped, beaten and left for dead by a couple of other guys. Sam’s character blasts these two guys away. The rape of his daughter and his reaction to shoot these guys away takes place a Mississippi town infested with the KKK.

Anyway, Matthew McConanahey (spelling?) plays the defense attorney.

Samuel L. Jackson walks… Do you think if this is based on a true story he should have spent his life in jail and punished for taking the lives of the two men that brutally raped, beat and left for dead his 9 year old daughter?
________

Regardless, following through on a lawfully imposed death penalty is not a murder….so says our elected lawmakers and our duly appointed Supreme Court. You are certainly entitled to your OPINION that you just don’t think that the death penalty is an appropriate punishment in the case of Mr. Hankins. I disagree and I also thank the jury, the prosecution, the judge, the appelate courts and the Gov of Texas as well as the team of defense attorneys who dutifully and tirelessy represented Mr. Hankins.

Be that way, Texas! I don’t like hearing your claims that the death penalty is “not murder but retributive justice”. I will continue to oppose the death penalty and reach out to families of murder victims and death row inmates. May God forgive you, and may God forgive us all.

People will not see the long way they've come, & its intersection with today. "Read your history"? As if it's only "our darkest chapter" in some book ? We're living your history, for you keep on blindly reproducing the same. We know this, for it's all too predictable, our entire experience of you.

A father ( with his limited powers ) may kill his girl's rapists, but the state may not, for the state has already claimed far greater powers & must now use them to save & not continue murder as its own process. Balance is needed to correct crime, & balance, social balance, is farther damaged by a state execution, for society is severed from its own corrective process, its own greater powers with respect to a single individual. The wrongdoer needs to be helped to restore the balance by purification, rectification & reparation. Prison is no place for this. Only his society can help him do this, not by shutting him out of sight forever, but by deepening the Connection with him. There are no shortcuts here, except in exceptional emergencies or war — & even then there are limits to social or state power. For every being & thing has its own sovereignty — even a wrongdoer.

But under your way of life you've given up all sovereignty to the state & abdicated your own. Start taking them back — & start doing your own work to heal your society, starting with the problem of the wrongdoer himself, for no state or its laws or courts or prisons can ever do this work for you. By focusing on one you have lost sight of all.

It's not the heinousness of a crime but the greater social context within which it's committed which can warrant drastic measures against a wrongdoer —- special situations like actual external aggression or an internal epidemic of crimes against a particular underprevileged section of society. In corrective measures we need to address the real social diseases & not just its symptoms, which is what crime is. A problem can never be solved at its own level.

People will not see the long way they’ve come, & its intersection with today. “Read your history”? As if it’s only “our darkest chapter” in some book ? We’re living your history, for you keep on blindly reproducing the same. We know this, for it’s all too predictable, our entire experience of you.

A father ( with his limited powers ) may kill his girl’s rapists, but the state may not, for the state has already claimed far greater powers & must now use them to save & not continue murder as its own process. Balance is needed to correct crime, & balance, social balance, is farther damaged by a state execution, for society is severed from its own corrective process, its own greater powers with respect to a single individual. The wrongdoer needs to be helped to restore the balance by purification, rectification & reparation. Prison is no place for this. Only his society can help him do this, not by shutting him out of sight forever, but by deepening the Connection with him. There are no shortcuts here, except in exceptional emergencies or war — & even then there are limits to social or state power. For every being & thing has its own sovereignty — even a wrongdoer.

But under your way of life you’ve given up all sovereignty to the state & abdicated your own. Start taking them back — & start doing your own work to heal your society, starting with the problem of the wrongdoer himself, for no state or its laws or courts or prisons can ever do this work for you. By focusing on one you have lost sight of all.

It’s not the heinousness of a crime but the greater social context within which it’s committed which can warrant drastic measures against a wrongdoer —- special situations like actual external aggression or an internal epidemic of crimes against a particular underprevileged section of society. In corrective measures we need to address the real social diseases & not just its symptoms, which is what crime is. A problem can never be solved at its own level.

I take it from your kumbaya – ish language that you are also opposed to sending convicted murderers, rapists, woman-beaters, armed robbers, child molesters, child abusers, thiefs etc… to jail.

"The wrongdoer needs to be helped to restore the balance by purification, rectification & reparation. Prison is no place for this. Only his society can help him do this, not by shutting him out of sight forever, but by deepening the Connection with him."

Perhaps the next Terry Lee Hankins can go live in your house with you, your wife and your children. You can heal him if he doesn't kill you all in your sleep first.

I take it from your kumbaya – ish language that you are also opposed to sending convicted murderers, rapists, woman-beaters, armed robbers, child molesters, child abusers, thiefs etc… to jail.

“The wrongdoer needs to be helped to restore the balance by purification, rectification & reparation. Prison is no place for this. Only his society can help him do this, not by shutting him out of sight forever, but by deepening the Connection with him.”

Perhaps the next Terry Lee Hankins can go live in your house with you, your wife and your children. You can heal him if he doesn’t kill you all in your sleep first.

Very, very good point, about the next Hankins coming to live with my family & killing us in our sleep. Accurate as to the consequences, & hence about the whole problem as well. This itself shows the remedy is collective, not individual. Cities don't have communities, which are rare in america, & nonexistent in texas. Here we come to the real problem.That a fundamental discussion about prison & society, & ways & means, is seen as "kumbayaish" shows anglo texan popular opinion, or a section of it, as unable to think of any alternative way, even when it finds no way out but execution. So, all Hankins, & all "seen" as being Hankineque, are slated for execution. Indefinitely. With such finality, no wonder people on opposite points here can't talk to each other ever after.Is this all we can arrive at ? Is this a way, or a dead end ?

Very, very good point, about the next Hankins coming to live with my family & killing us in our sleep. Accurate as to the consequences, & hence about the whole problem as well. This itself shows the remedy is collective, not individual. Cities don’t have communities, which are rare in america, & nonexistent in texas. Here we come to the real problem.That a fundamental discussion about prison & society, & ways & means, is seen as “kumbayaish” shows anglo texan popular opinion, or a section of it, as unable to think of any alternative way, even when it finds no way out but execution. So, all Hankins, & all “seen” as being Hankineque, are slated for execution. Indefinitely. With such finality, no wonder people on opposite points here can’t talk to each other ever after.Is this all we can arrive at ? Is this a way, or a dead end ?

Tell me the solution John? What can "society" do to protect itself from murderers and rapists?

Further, what did "society" do or not do to Mr. Hankins?

How do you prevent serial killers from killing again? What (short of securing them in a maximum security prison) can "society" do John? What is your solution to keep citizens of this country safe from violent convicted criminals?

I live in a "community" here in Texas, there are plenty in this state and across our Country. We have block partys, local YMCAs, little league baseball, neighborhood watch groups, children activities, active chapters of the UAW; American Legion; VFW; Alcoholics Anonymous; Homeless Shelters; Employment Assistance Offices, etc…. countless other individuals and social groups/organizations and commerce that do endless things for the people in this city.

So…how would you have gone about healing Mr. Hankins and other convicted mass murderers, while preventing future murders and protecting potential victims????

You should come down and visit Mesquite, Texas sometime (suberb of Dallas) and judge our "community" for yourself. Just don't commit a capital offense while visiting and you will be ok.

Tell me the solution John? What can “society” do to protect itself from murderers and rapists?

Further, what did “society” do or not do to Mr. Hankins?

How do you prevent serial killers from killing again? What (short of securing them in a maximum security prison) can “society” do John? What is your solution to keep citizens of this country safe from violent convicted criminals?

I live in a “community” here in Texas, there are plenty in this state and across our Country. We have block partys, local YMCAs, little league baseball, neighborhood watch groups, children activities, active chapters of the UAW; American Legion; VFW; Alcoholics Anonymous; Homeless Shelters; Employment Assistance Offices, etc…. countless other individuals and social groups/organizations and commerce that do endless things for the people in this city.

So…how would you have gone about healing Mr. Hankins and other convicted mass murderers, while preventing future murders and protecting potential victims????

You should come down and visit Mesquite, Texas sometime (suberb of Dallas) and judge our “community” for yourself. Just don’t commit a capital offense while visiting and you will be ok.

Thanks so much for your invite, dear Texas. i find your comments often very well argued, always heartfelt — & extremely human & humorous, something i wish could be in my own flatfooted & pompous remarks. i talk idealistically without having seen the actual places or people i'm talking about. So i'm just a blind man trying to talk to you.

Your point about criminals, rapists — & don't forget the Wall St Madoffs & CEOs here, either … but there i go again. Let's focus on the physically dangerous guys. Can't let em sleep in my home. Not after what you said. Now i'd be having nightmares, jerking awake every now & then …

Law & order approach . The police. Killers & tasers, racist hulks, off – the – target, out – of – control guardians of the rich, the terror of migrants & black youth & legally employed Chicanos. Never there when you need em .

The courts . The Just – us system, as the non – white population & even the poor or ordinary white youth & people call it. The criminal justus system is famously biased against the poor & the nonwhites

The prisons . america's the greatest prison culture on earth. More'n 2 million people in prison — not even china comes close. Overcrowded crime academies. Now you have private prisons which try to catch people for its quotas. Victims from the war on drugs & on medically beneficial drugs, war on migrants ( the poor whose livelihood at home has been destroyed by U.S. trade practices ).

Death row … the Troy Davises who shouldn't be there. People convicted on recanted or snitch testimony. On evidence doctored by police.

Even Iraq vets will tell you how the law singles them out.

The system's imploding texas. Such a faulty machinery can't "care" for its victims, let alone the truly criminal.

But what to do about the truly criminal, & what can society do ? i'll be back soon for tbese questions, dear friend.

Thanks so much for your invite, dear Texas. i find your comments often very well argued, always heartfelt — & extremely human & humorous, something i wish could be in my own flatfooted & pompous remarks. i talk idealistically without having seen the actual places or people i’m talking about. So i’m just a blind man trying to talk to you.

Your point about criminals, rapists — & don’t forget the Wall St Madoffs & CEOs here, either … but there i go again. Let’s focus on the physically dangerous guys. Can’t let em sleep in my home. Not after what you said. Now i’d be having nightmares, jerking awake every now & then …

Law & order approach . The police. Killers & tasers, racist hulks, off – the – target, out – of – control guardians of the rich, the terror of migrants & black youth & legally employed Chicanos. Never there when you need em .

The courts . The Just – us system, as the non – white population & even the poor or ordinary white youth & people call it. The criminal justus system is famously biased against the poor & the nonwhites

The prisons . america’s the greatest prison culture on earth. More’n 2 million people in prison — not even china comes close. Overcrowded crime academies. Now you have private prisons which try to catch people for its quotas. Victims from the war on drugs & on medically beneficial drugs, war on migrants ( the poor whose livelihood at home has been destroyed by U.S. trade practices ).

Death row … the Troy Davises who shouldn’t be there. People convicted on recanted or snitch testimony. On evidence doctored by police.

Even Iraq vets will tell you how the law singles them out.

The system’s imploding texas. Such a faulty machinery can’t “care” for its victims, let alone the truly criminal.

But what to do about the truly criminal, & what can society do ? i’ll be back soon for tbese questions, dear friend.

I look forward John. I'm very interested to know your opinion on what to do with the truly convicted murder/rapist/ violent criminal.

Thanks for the exchange and always addressing my post.

Concerning your comments/ranting about police "out-of-control guardians of the rich" etc…, courts "just us" "biased" etc…, and prisons … well you can paint them all with whatever demented broad paintbrush you wish. I'll just have to respectfully disagree…we can perhaps save that debate for another day.

I look forward John. I’m very interested to know your opinion on what to do with the truly convicted murder/rapist/ violent criminal.

Thanks for the exchange and always addressing my post.

Concerning your comments/ranting about police “out-of-control guardians of the rich” etc…, courts “just us” “biased” etc…, and prisons … well you can paint them all with whatever demented broad paintbrush you wish. I’ll just have to respectfully disagree…we can perhaps save that debate for another day.

You say you find my words simple, stupid, offensive & racist. This is a comprehensive & wholistic indictment which deepens & intensifies at the end. i appreciate your critique of me immensely, a critique which is brief yet well rounded, & i deeply thank you for your strong wording, which is like always heartfelt & passionate & ringing.

And, above all, direct. Straight .

If you don't mind me saying so, you come across as a most honorable man, upstanding & clearminded. Your views are yours. i like how you say them.

You describe me as you see me — no more, no less.

You're sweeping in your condemnation, but don't try to put me down. i wouldn't mind if you did, but you didn't. That shows your high standards, if i may say so.

No, you don't try to put me down, you put me at a distance to yourself, as being offensive to yourself.

i respect your distance, & will keep it.

Many people from different ends of the earth have given me the same ringing critique, & lambasted me for my stupid views.

Indeed they've given me more thorough lashings than you, complete with more explicit epithets you can no doubt imagine, as i richly deserve.

You said, imagine how stupid it'd be if i said such things about Black people ?

You say you find my words simple, stupid, offensive & racist. This is a comprehensive & wholistic indictment which deepens & intensifies at the end. i appreciate your critique of me immensely, a critique which is brief yet well rounded, & i deeply thank you for your strong wording, which is like always heartfelt & passionate & ringing.

And, above all, direct. Straight .

If you don’t mind me saying so, you come across as a most honorable man, upstanding & clearminded. Your views are yours. i like how you say them.

You describe me as you see me — no more, no less.

You’re sweeping in your condemnation, but don’t try to put me down. i wouldn’t mind if you did, but you didn’t. That shows your high standards, if i may say so.

No, you don’t try to put me down, you put me at a distance to yourself, as being offensive to yourself.

i respect your distance, & will keep it.

Many people from different ends of the earth have given me the same ringing critique, & lambasted me for my stupid views.

Indeed they’ve given me more thorough lashings than you, complete with more explicit epithets you can no doubt imagine, as i richly deserve.

You said, imagine how stupid it’d be if i said such things about Black people ?

The anti-death penalty movement seems to really not care about the crime victims. Although they claim their are other punishments for people that commit such horrible crimes they are the same voice that cry out for criminals not to be sentenced to life without parole. For some reason the believe that anyone can be rehabilitated and should be given a chance to go out into society. The list of people that have committed murder, released goes on to commit other murders and heinous crimes. Ironically a number of people that have gone on to kill others were people released from prison when they were released from death row after the moratorium on the death penalty. If those individuals would have put to death their would have been 100% chance that they would not have gone on to kill again. The only issue when it comes to the death penalty is guilt or innocents. The death penalty can be abolished tomorrow if people stopped committing murders.

The anti-death penalty movement seems to really not care about the crime victims. Although they claim their are other punishments for people that commit such horrible crimes they are the same voice that cry out for criminals not to be sentenced to life without parole. For some reason the believe that anyone can be rehabilitated and should be given a chance to go out into society. The list of people that have committed murder, released goes on to commit other murders and heinous crimes. Ironically a number of people that have gone on to kill others were people released from prison when they were released from death row after the moratorium on the death penalty. If those individuals would have put to death their would have been 100% chance that they would not have gone on to kill again. The only issue when it comes to the death penalty is guilt or innocents. The death penalty can be abolished tomorrow if people stopped committing murders.